This past weekend was the weekend that a large number of Christian Teens, usually coning from the Churches of Christ around the country, gathered in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a youth conference known as Winterfest. This year is the first year for a while that I havent been able to attend. I got to attend Winterfest every year from 2011-2016, and I really enjoyed the time that I got to spend down I'm Gatlinburg. It was a spiritually uplifting experience for me and really helped me grow with my walk towards Christ.

At Winterfest, everyone gets the chance to spend the weekend in a nice hotel in Gatlinburg with their youth groups. Throughput the weekend, we get the chance to interact with other Christians, shop around the main shopping strip of Gatlinburg, and attend several sessions at the Convention Center. The sessions that we go to at the convention center are usually time spent with about half of the teens and chaperones that come for the weekend (each session is presented twice, one right after the other for two groups of about 6,500 people in each group. About 13,000 people overall in Gatlinburg during this one weekend just for the Winterfest youth conference alone.). Each session usually consists of a time of singing, prayer, a lesson, and one or two different "fun activities". These "fun activities" usually include something like a comedy act, a spoken word poem, or something else similar that deals with the lesson. The whole weekend is just a lot of fun.

I, like many Christians, am nowhere near perfect, and I never will be perfect. I know I have my faults, just like everyone else, and I fall short.

While at Winterfest, all of my sins, shortcomings, and worries, they all seemed to just drift away for the weekend. They were virtually nonexistent during the few days that I was in Gatlinburg.

Though my shortcomings seemed to slowly drift back once I got back to "real life", I seemed to be floating through at least a few weeks after with a sense of happiness and joy. Just knowing that I had learned so much about Christ and his Grace and Mercy while I was at the different sessions throughout the weekend helped me through everyday life.

Looking back over this weekend, even though I didn't get to spend it with the thousands of other Christians at the Winterfest youth rally, I'd say the weekend turned out really well. I had a lot of fun getting to visit with my Aunt, Grandma, and Dad back home. With being so busy throughout the semester, it's usually really difficult for me to pull away from my studies to be able to come home to visit. This trip was definitely worth taking a little bit of time away from my studies though. I cherish all the time that I get to spend with my family. I don't get to see my family anywhere near as often as I would like to, so it's nice when I do get to see them.